Posted by Hombre on February 6, 2011, at 3:56:59
In reply to Re: Goji berries help chronic fatigue » Hombre, posted by former poster on February 5, 2011, at 23:37:02
> >>Liver fire may lead to frustration, anger, yelling, agiation, etc.<<
>
> I think I have liver fire. Can you tell me more about this?Liver fire describes a certain pattern of disharmony or imbalance in the whole body, as the organs in TCM represent functional groupings rather than strict anatomical structures and functions. In short, for those who can't grok the TCM lingo, don't worry about it. They are just descriptors.
OK, with that out of the way, here are some interesting quotes from people much better educated than I:
http://www.itmonline.org/5organs/liver.htm
"LIVER YIN DEFICIENCY (gan yin xu): primary symptoms are dizziness; blurry vision; dry eyes; dull intercostal pain; dry mouth and throat; heat sensations in palms and soles. Secondary symptoms include numbness in extremities; limited tendon flexibility; lusterless nails; impatient disposition and temper outbreaks; flushed cheeks; dark urination; constipation; low grade fever; restlessness and insomnia; tidal heat sensations; night sweats. The tongue typically presents with redness and little or no coating; the pulse tends to be wiry and fine, or wiry, fine, and rapid."
"LIVER FIRE BLAZING (gan huo shang yan): primary symptoms are pain and distention in the head; dizziness; ringing in the ears or sudden deafness; red face; red, swollen, or painful eyes; dry and bitter sensation in the mouth; marked impatience and tendency to throw fits of anger. Secondary symptoms include insomnia; vivid dreaming; throbbing or burning pain along sides of chest; dark urination; constipation. The tongue typically presents with a red body and a yellow coating; the pulse tends to be wiry and rapid."
"REBELLIOUS UPFLARING OF LIVER YANG (gan yang shang kang): primary symptoms are dizziness; distention and pain in the head; ringing in the ears; redness and heat sensation in the face and upper part of the body. Secondary symptoms include insomnia; vivid dreaming; impatience; angry disposition; heavy head and "light feet" (easily stumbles); weak and sore lower back and knees; dry mouth and throat. The tongue is typically red; the pulse tends to be wiry and forceful, or wiry, fine, and rapid."
Any sort of Yin (moisture, coolness) deficiency will be similar to a heat/fire pattern, with symptoms of dryness, heat, redness, dark urine, constipation, insomnia, agitation, vivid dreaming. Most people are somewhat Yin deficient due to too much work/stress and not enough rest. Also, too much time staring at a monitor will tire out your eyes. Staying up too late is supposedly bad for the liver, as the early part of a "normal" sleep schedule is for the liver to detoxify the blood and break down various hormones, including glucocorticoids a.k.a. stress hormones. As a long time insomniac, I can vouch for the value of getting to bed before 11pm. I need meds to do it for now, but it's worth it to get restful sleep. I definitely feel worse if I stay up too late, even if I get 8 hours.
Also, liver stagnation can lead to liver yin deficiency or liver fire. Liver stagnation is sort of a "stuck" feeling usually caused my anger or frustration. The liver represents your ability to spread, grow, flow. If someone or something blocks this, you feel angry or frustrated. Too much of this will lead to liver stagnation, and over time stagnation can lead to heat, much as in physics and chemistry, pressure and heat are related. It's a bit hokey, and yet easy to grasp this analogy.
So according to TCM, it's really important to deal with your anger and frustration in a proactive way. Just suppressing your emotions will eventually do harm. If possible, try to channel or transform that initial angry energy into action or communication. If you develop personal strategies for how to do this, you can use anger, which is a vital and natural emotion, to fuel positive change. That's common sense perhaps, but to link emotion to disease is one of the things about TCM that makes it fascinating to someone like me who has suffered emotional/mental illness for many years.
Some background on the liver in TCM and its connection to emotions and mental function:
"Emotional aspect: the ancient Chinese observed that human emotions are largely governed by the heart network. However, they also concluded that mental well-being or various shades of depression have an association with the coursing and draining function of the liver. Only if the liver carries this task out properly can the body's qi and blood flow unobstructed, and thus facilitate a feeling of ease, harmony, and peace. If for some reason the liver fails to maintain this state, depression (of liver qi) or pathological rising (of liver yang) may result."
"The liver is in charge of planning and strategy, the gallbladder is in charge of decision making.
Just as trees (wood) tend to unrelentingly pursue their upward quest for the light, the liver represents the innate will of the body/mind to spread outward. Just like qi and blood have to spread within the body to ensure physical survival, human shen needs to spread freely through the social environment to guarantee an uninhibited passage through life. Individuals with strong liver qi and blood are usually excellent strategic planners and decision makers: they know how to spread themselves into the world. Due to these qualities, they often make outstanding business managers. If, however, this tough and determined spreading nature of the liver is not in a state of harmonious balance with the softer side of liver wood-ease, smoothness, flexibility-the wood-endangering state of rigidity arises."
"he Liver Loses Its Ability to Course and Drain: if qi gets stuck, the inhibited coursing action of liver qi immediately manifests in the form of mental and emotional symptoms; depression, sensation of emotional pain, or crying are typical examples. If liver qi flares up and upsets the harmonious interplay between body and mind, outbursts of anger, or pain and distention in the sides of the chest may result.
This condition has also immediate consequences to the functioning of the spleen/stomach, specifically the actions of absorbing, transforming, and transporting grain qi (postnatal essence). Typical signs of a liver qi disorder implicating the neighboring spleen/stomach system are belching, regurgitation of stomach acid, vomiting, and diarrhea."
"Liver Disharmony Reflecting on the Emotions and Mental Activities: a deficiency of liver qi typically causes a person to be indecisive and adrift, with a marked inability to plan ahead effectively. If gallbladder qi is deficient, the person will be fearful, have a panicky disposition, and have difficulty making decisions.
Certain emotional states can result from, or cause, liver qi disorders. For example, a state of depression brought on by an unexpected event can eventually cause physical symptoms attributed to liver qi stagnation; liver qi stagnation, in turn, can cause mental depression. An intense outbreak of anger can induce sudden headaches, dizziness, chest pain, and other signs of liver-qi flare up (as the Neijing points out: "When a person is angry, the qi moves up); liver qi flaring up can cause one to feel anger. Sometimes a person will suffer a stroke ("qi and blood rushing to the brain") during or shortly after an outburst of anger. Anger is a physiologically normal emotion and will usually not cause disease. The constant suppression of anger or putting oneself always in a situation that generates anger, on the other hand, can be the cause of long ranging problems, since it promotes a chronic state of internal qi stagnation."
"If liver qi is depressed, the liver needs to be treated with substances that restore its coursing function, such as bupleurum (chaihu) or cyperus (xiangfuzi). If prolonged qi stagnation has affected the blood by causing blood stasis, the liver blood needs to moved and the stasis expelled by using substances like persica (taoren) and carthamus (honghua).
In a situation where an outbreak of rage has triggered a rampant and, usually, upwardly mobile qi flow, the liver needs to be calmed with gently descending substances such as peony (baishao) or uncaria (gouteng). If liver qi surges upwards and draws blood along with it, calming and descending substances need to be combined with herbs that cool liver blood, such as moutan (mudanpi); achyranthes (niuxi) will also guide blood downward. If a fit of anger sets liver fire ablaze, liver heat needs to be cleared with herbs like scute (huangqin), or in more serious situations also be addressed with materials that strongly purge liver heat such as gentiana (longdancao).
If wood fails to course and drain earth, the symptoms of stuckness, fullness, and distress in the middle burner need to be alleviated by coursing the liver (e.g., with bupleurum; chaihu) and harmonizing the spleen/stomach (e.g., with white atractylodes; baizhu)."
The link I posted at the top has lots of suggestions for herbs, although you'd probably want to try a pre-made formula or better yet see an herbalist.
I hope that helps.
poster:Hombre
thread:978632
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20101202/msgs/978744.html